Carnatic wars

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Carnatic wars. The Carnatic region covers the Eastern Ghats and Coromandel plain in south India and witnessed the initial struggle of the British and French for power in the subcontinent. Rivalry between Chanda Sahib and Mohammed Ali to be nawab of Arcot became entangled with rivalry between the English and French East India Companies for trading supremacy. The French backed Chanda Sahib and the English Mohammed Ali. The hostilities, which brought the European War of Austrian Succession and Seven Years War to Asia, lasted with brief respites from 1746 until 1760 and saw the emergence of Robert Clive. In 1760, the English won a decisive victory at the battle of Wandewash. However, peace did not come to the region for another forty years. English hegemony was challenged by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore, who received occasional support from France, and south India was not fully secured by the British until Arthur Wellesley's (Wellington) victory over Tipu in 1799.

David Anthony Washbrook